Military interlocking belt buckles
 

Good afternoon
I am an antique dealer in military items, I search all over the UK for military artifacts. Recently 3 styles of interlocking belt buckles came into my possession. I have tried the internet but no luck so far so they are

1. Brass belt buckle Royal Arms motto: DIEU ET MON DROIT around the outer, the centre has Lion astride crown, Style of crown isn't Kings or Queens.

2. Brass belt buckle circle design around the outer, the centre has a Lion astride a kings crown.

3. Brass belt buckle motto Nil desparandum Victoria Centre is a crown. I saw a thread here that indicates that it may be an Australian buckle. Can this be confirmed.

Hoping in advance Mike

Mike

Are these very worn or badly cast? The detail seems blurry, behind the verdigris, and I'm wondering whether they may be Indo-Pakistani 'bazaar cast' copies.

If so, the middle one is likely, IMO, to be a fantasy piece. No idea about the other two, as both mottos are very popular with a number of British and Imperial/Commonwealth units.

Thank you for your reply Peter, do you have links or online resources that I could cross reference.

The first one doesnt look right. I think it could well be 2 separate halves.
The emblem reminds me of a railway insignia

Here are a couple of examples of 'sand cast' badges - both to British regiments - which came out of India. As you can see, the quality of the castings is quite poor. These are still made to sell to tourists, and have been, I suspect, since at least WWII, when troops in India bought them as souvenirs.

The term usually applied is 'sand cast'.

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ht=indian+made

https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...6&d=1586774811


At the bottom is a site for an Indian firm which makes good badges, but the quality, as in everything else available in the free market, ranges from excellent to awful.

https://dir.indiamart.com/impcat/mil...lt-buckle.html

If you check in the 'Indian' section you will find discussions of such badges and in 'Fakes & Forgeries', as some are meant to defraud but many are simply poorly and quickly made and sold cheaply.

I hope this is some help. Sorry I don't have more info. :(

Peter

The first two don't look like brass to me, more like coated steel, hence the rust. The first one has a coronet in the design, not a crown, the lion surmounts the coronet and is not astride it. The second one has a crown surmounted by a lion, not a lion astride a crown and the whole thing looks like a piece of old costume tat to my eyes. The third one looks to be Australian Militia and appears to have spent a long time in unfavourable storage conditions. In militaria circles these things are usually referred to as waistbelt clasps.

G'day Mike

Re buckle No 3, this is not like anything Ive ever seen here in Aussie.

In the colonial period in the state / colony of Victoria the various Militia regiments wore waist belt clasps of the same shape, however they are quite dis similar to the one that you show.

Whilst they have the Queen Vic Crown to the centre, the surround has one of 2 different mottoes, either Aut Pace Aut Bello Victoria or Pro Deo et Patria Victoria, this second one was introduced in 1893. The "snake" type clasp was also used, with and without the word Victoria and some regiments used a waist belt plate.

I have a white blankoed leather waist belt with the brass waist belt clasp and the Motto of Aut Pace Aut Bello Victoria. I also have an officers plain brown leather waist belt with sword slings and a white metal "Snake" clasp. I have had both of these belts from the early 1970's.

I hope that this helps.

Regards

Phil.

Mike

I brought a variant of the third buckle from a Victorian militaria dealer about 10 years ago. At the time he advised that it was probable that the buckle was from the Hastings 40 Pounder Battery , (Victorian Rangers) that was formed in 1890 for the protection of Westernport.

The Battery’s guns were drawn by bullocks and its nickname was the “Bullock’s Battery”.

I have never been able to confirm the information as very few records or photographs of the unit exist.

Regards

Dennis

Hi Dennis

There is a book on the Western Port battery, I think that its put out by the historical society at Hastings, I will see if I can chase down a copy and will let you know.

Take care

Phil.

The "Bullock Battery" was the description I heard, but have never been able to confirm it.

3rd Belt buckle
 

Thank you for your replies Phil and Dennis I have seen several examples of the Victoria belt buckle. If there is any more information I would be grateful. Peter thank you for the links which I found very interesting indeed and they could very well be fantasy pieces.

Kind Regards
Mike